Solomon Islands is currently divided into 9 provinces. The national capital, Honiara, on the island of Guadalcanal, is separately governed as Capital Territory.
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In the United Kingdom protectorate, there were initially 12 administrative districts: Choiseul, Eastern Solomons, Gizo, Guadalcanal, Lord Howe, Malaita, Nggela and Savo, Rennell and Bellona Islands, Santa Cruz, Shortlands, Sikaiana (Stewart), and Ysabel and Cape Marsh. The capital was Tulagi.
After World War II, it was reorganized into four districts, Central, Western, Eastern, and Malalaita. These districts were then further subdivided into councils. The capital was also moved to Honiara. These were the political divisions that the nation inherited at its independence in 1978.
In 1981 the nation was reorganized into seven provinces by splitting some of the districts: Central District was split into Central, Guadalcanal, and Isabel provinces; Eastern District was split into Makira and Temotu provinces. The other two districts, Western and Malalaita, were also designated as provinces. These new provinces corresponded to the councils of the districts before 1981.
In 1983, the 22 square-kilometer Honiara was split off from Guadalcanal province and became a separately-governed Capital Territory. The city still serves as the capital of Guadalcanal province.
In 1995, Choiseul was split off from Western province, and Rennell and Bellona was split off from Central province, making the nine provinces of today.
The population census data is from the 1999 census; the 2009 population estimates are those provided by the Solomon Islands National Statistics office. They show how the population has increased in the past decade for most of the provinces, especially the more urban ones, as urbanization grows. The figures for Guadalcanal Province do not include the separately-administered Capital Territory of Honiara; if included, that province would have had a total population of 109,382 in 1999, when it was the second largest province; by 2009, the combined estimate for Guadalcanal and the Capital Territory would be 157,745, making it the largest province. The Capital Territory is ranked as n/a below, and does not count in the order.
| # | Province | Capital | Area (km²) |
Population census 1999 |
Population per km² (1999) |
Population estimate 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Province | Tulagi | 615 | 21,577 | 35.1 | 24,226 |
| 2 | Choiseul Province | Taro Island | 3,837 | 20,008 | 5.2 | 24,060 |
| 3 | Guadalcanal Province (1) | Honiara | 5,336 | 60,275 | 11.3 | 79,555 |
| 4 | Isabel Province | Buala | 4,136 | 20,421 | 4.9 | 23,209 |
| 5 | Makira-Ulawa Province | Kirakira | 3,188 | 31,006 | 9.7 | 38,123 |
| 6 | Malaita Province | Auki | 4,225 | 122,620 | 29.0 | 143,852 |
| 7 | Rennell and Bellona Province | Tigoa | 671 | 2,377 | 3.5 | 2,174 |
| 8 | Temotu Province | Lata | 895 | 18,912 | 21.1 | 21,190 |
| 9 | Western Province | Gizo | 5,475 | 62,739 | 11.5 | 83,759 |
| n/a | Capital Territory | Honiara | 22 | 49,107 | 2,232.1 | 78,190 |
| Solomon Islands | Honiara | 28,400 | 409,042 | 14.4 | 518,338 |
(1) excluding the Capital Territory of Honiara
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